N87576

The purposes of the
accident list below are to: (1) serve as historical reference (2) serve as a
reminder to Seabee pilots. The accident list does not intend to
identify the pilots involved, or to give a final conclusion on the cause
of an accident. When available to the author, the information has
been taken from official accident reports. However,
most of the information is from newspapers, books and other trivial
sources. For conclusive accident information, the final
official NTSB reports should be consulted.

From the accident list
below, the most common accident scenarios seem to be

The
author will welcome any additional accident information, corrections and accident photos from
the visitors to this web-site. Any safety tips and reminders for avoiding
accidents are most welcome too - and will be published here at your
approval. Please e-mail:

After
take off from Klamath Falls Municipal Airport, the aircraft did not
gain sufficient height to clear power cables outside airport.
Aircraft hit cables and nosed hard into ground, killing Tex Rankin and
two of his three passengers.

Aircraft
crashed on landing, when pilot George Needham landed on water with
landing gear down. Mr. Needham and wife were rescued by Charles
Robertson and Robert Chaffin fishing from a rowboat nearby. Mr.
Needham suffered bruises, cuts and shock. Mrs. Needham almost
drowned, but was rescued by artificial breathing. She also
suffered a broken arm and cuts.

Paul
Lowman, 35, pilot and Warsaw flying school operator, and his
passenger, Carl Wyrick, 24, of Warsaw, were rescued from a Republic
Seabee which crashed in Winona Lake. After they climbed onto the
wings of the crashed plane, they were taken off in a speedboat by
Homer Hatfield and Lewis Meredith, of Warsaw.

Aircraft
crashed at Riverside Drive and Old River Road. The pilot
made at take off from Susquehanna River and hit a downdraft. The
aircraft struck an electric wire in a nosedive and lost its right
wing. Pilot Daniel Berrettini (37), and passenger Isaac Coursen (48)
escaped with serious injuries. The aircraft was based at Wyoming
Valley Airport, Forty Fort, owned by Clifton Carr.

Three
person were injured when their Republic Seabee plane crashed in a
field two miles north of Honeoye Falls, New York. Pilot of the
plane was Richard F. Stott, St. Albans, Long Island, who extricated
himself from the wreckage and telephoned for assistance from a nearby
house. Also injured were Mrs. Stott and a passenger identified
as John Woodworth. All three were taken to Strong Memorial
Hospital in Rochester. [Syracuse Herald-Journal, Wednesday evening,
Dec. 10, 1947].

Pilot
T. R. Stromberg took off from ice in ski-equipped a/c. Had just
reached a height of 500 feet when there was a sound of an explosion
and engine immediately stopped. Pilot had no choice but to try
to land in small creek and began to glide in that direction but did
not succeed. He pancaked in and a/c damaged. Damage:
Aircraft destroyed. Injuries: Nil. [Files: 5008-D11-20 /
5802-10772].

Pilot
G. R. Ayres (Operator: Atlas Aviation Limited) attempted take off from
an airstrip with two passengers on board. Upon reaching end of
strip, a/c was not fully airborne and port wing tip float struck a
fence post. This slowed a/c still further and it struck a bank
at the side of the road, shearing off the undercarriage. It the
skidded about another 200 feet on the hull. Damage:
Substantial. Injuries: Nil. [Files: 5008-F19-5 / 5802-12113].

A/c
took off, reached approximately 200' then started to lose
altitude. In order to avoid localizer house and bush in line of
take off, pilot A. Tateishi (Operator: A. K. Tateishi) turned left and
landed in open field. Damage: Minor. Injuries: Nil.
[File: 5008-E3-18 / 5802-16312].

Two
men died and two others were injured in the crash of an amphibian
plane into the Connecticut River. Dead were Thomas H. Corbert,
25, of West Springfield, Mass., and Philip De Palma, 23, of Agawam,
Mass.

On
take off from Rock River, Janesville, Wisconsin, aircraft crashed into
center span of new 4-Mile Bridge. Aircraft unexpectedly took off too
early to clear bridge. Pilot/owner Clarence E. Thiele; 213 West
Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was seriously injured.

Aircraft
crashed during take off from lake. When turning a bend on the
lake during take off, the pilot discovered a dam ahead. In
trying to avoid hitting the Ross Dam, pilot steeply banked the
aircraft into a turn. Unfortunately, the wing hit the water and
aircraft cartwheeled into the lake. Mr. Nicholas M. Yanick (36)
and Mrs. Marie Yanick (32) were killed. Their two boys; Miles (14) and
Jay (12) were rescued and survived.

The
plane plunged into the harbor a few minutes after pilot/owner Melvin
Bolsinger had taken off in clear weather. Witnesses said he got
clear of the plane after it hit, but disappeared before help could
reach him. A recently killed seagull was found floating near the
crash scene, leading to the theory the bird may had flown into the
propeller.

On
ambulance flight the a/c hit an object floating in the sea on take off
in the dark and crashed. The doctor and the baby patient died. Pilot
seriously injured. The 2nd pilot and mother of baby only minor
injuries.

Engine
stopped, probably due to fuel starvation (someone had stolen fuel from
aircraft?). When trying to make an emergency landing on a pond,
the aircraft hit a gravel embankment just before the pond and was
totally destroyed.

During
water landing right wing float hit the sea hard and disintegrated from
the aircraft. Right wing dug in, and when giving throttle to
rise the wing again, the Seabee flipped over on its back. Pilot
was rescued by two boatmen.

Take
off from Dressel Airport. Wheels down landing on water.
Pilot in command failed to retract landing wheels before landing on
water. Aircraft sank. Damage substantial. Pilot was not injured.
[NTSB Identification: MIA69D0403].

During take off from Buffalo River(?), near Tonawanda, NY, the left wing
float separated from aircraft. The pilot landed again to retrieve
the float. After landing, the taxiing aircraft was capsized by
wind and sank, some 6 miles from departure airport, Lockport, NY. The
flight was an instructional flight, with an instructor (40), a student
pilot and a passenger on board. Nobody was injured. The
wreck was later recovered.

A/C departed from Gainesville, GA, for a
ferry flight to Charlotte, NC. During flight a push rod, P/N 1219,
in elevator control system disconnected from the control column lower
quadrant, P/N 1223. A/C made an uncontrolled decent into a lake in
Gastonia, North Carolina. The 56 year old pilot (25.000 hrs), was
fatally injured and the aircraft reported as
"destroyed". [NTSB Identification: IAD76AI034].

After
take off from Western Airpark, Yelm, the engine stopped and an
emergency wheels-up landing was made on a field near McKenna. The
Seabee hit ground hard and was severely damaged. Pilot John Greeff (40) and passenger Francis Green (73) were seriously
injured.

The pilot was on a test flight to check the
engine in the amphibious aircraft. As the landing gear was being
lowered to land at the airport, a "pop" was heard.
Reportedly, the noise occurred when the clevis on the rod end of the
retract/extend cylinder failed. The pilot reported that the gear
would not retract or extend, but was swinging freely in a trail
position. He elected to make a water landing. Thinking the
gear would trail behind. Reportedly, the aircraft bounced on its
first touchdown. The pilot stated that the wheels were knocked
back hard, the bounced fully forward and locked. Subsequently,
the aircraft flipped forward onto its back. Injuries:
none. Aircraft damage: Substantial. [NTSB ID No: FTW82DA254].

During flight, the engine begun to run rough. The
pilot attempted to correct the situation but the engine continued to
operate at reduced power. He elected to land the amphibious
plane in a field and extended the gear. However, the pilot saw
that the aircraft would not clear trees, so he decided to land on a
nearby lake. There was not enough time to retract the gear;
therefore, during the landing, the plane flipped over. It
continued to float, and later, it was turned to an upright position
and towed out of the lake on its gear. The pilot stated that he
had drained the sumps before the flight. After the accident, he
drained about 5 ounces of fluid from the upper drain and about half of
it was water. However, the water was found after the aircraft
had floated upside down in the lake over night. Injuries: 1
Minor, 1 Uninjured. [NTSB Identification: NYC82DA156].

According to pilot's statement, in the 6 hours of
experience in the aircraft, the max engine RPM attained was
2,000. During the initial legs of the ferry from Morristown, TN,
to California,
numerous takeoffs were aborted because the aircraft would not
accelerate to proper take off speed. Prior to the accident 2
unsuccessful takeoffs were aborted on the 9,000 ft runway. On
the third try the aircraft climbed to about 200 ft but was unable to
maintain altitude. In an attempt to clear a highway, the pilot
raised the nose until the aircraft stalled, entered an uncontrolled
descent and impacted the ground short of the road.

The pilot stated that he was having problems with the
elevator trim and elected to land the amphibious aircraft in the
bay. He acknowledged and witnesses observed him lower the gear
prior to attempting to land on the water. The aircraft flipped
inverted on touchdown. Injuries: 1 minor, 3 uninjured.

During
cruise flight at 3,000 ft, 20 miles south of the intended destination
the pilot reported that smoke filled the cockpit. About 1 minute
later the engine seized. During the attempted forced landing on
a water filled phosphate pit, the aircraft collided with an embankment
short of the pit, nosed over and came to rest inverted. Exam of
the engine revealed that the number 4 cylinder piston was damaged
circumferentially for undetermined reasons. Also discovered vas
the failure of number 5 cylinder connecting rod. The engine was
reportedly recently overhauled, but the logbooks were inside the
aircraft & were not recovered. 1 seriously injured, 1 minor
injured. [NTSB ID No: MIA90LA187]

During
nighttime water taxi the pilot lost control of the amphibious airplane
during the docking. The airplane left landing gear/float
assembly hit the submerged portion of the dock and expelled the pilot
out of the right door into the water. The pilot was not wearing
a seat belt. The private pilot/owner was not seaplane
rated. Pilot was seriously injured. Aircraft damage:
minor. [NTSB ID No: FTW91LA101].

The
two pilots departed Port Angeles, Washington, for Corvallis, Oregon,
with the intention of making practice landings en route. Witnesses
observed the aircraft in a smooth, descending, right turn lining up to
the north over the south end of Discovery Bay and headed towards 50
foot power lines which crossed the bay on an east/west line. Just
short of the power lines, the aircraft was observed to execute a sharp
90 degree left turn, descend out of control to the water, bounce into
the air and then re-enter the water in a steep, nose down attitude.
Stall, gusty windy conditions.

Substantially
damage during a water landing on Lake Pleasant, Speculator, New York.
The certificated private pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological
conditions prevailed for the personal flight that originated from
Monticello, New York. No flight plan was filed, and the flight was
conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
According to the pilot, he inadvertently lowered the landing wheels while on approach for a water landing. The airplane touched down, and
nosed over. [NTSB ID No: NYC00LA169].

During
initial climb-out, airspeed began to decay and climb rate decreased
quickly. Return to runway seemed impossible. At AGL at less than
200' aircraft was turned into wind, towards best field. Avoided
obstacles and landed in corn field. Intake valve spring failed on #5
cylinder.

All
power was lost. The pilot selected an open field as landing site.
The landing gear had been extended and as the aircraft was maneuvered
onto a short final, the right main landing gear struck a cow. The
aircraft yawed into a left skid, contacted the ground and skidded
through a barbwire fence. Post-crash examination revealed that the
right magneto had grounded internally resulting in its failure to
operate. Additional testing revealed the left coil ignition system had
also grounded internally as evidence by arcing, and it too, had failed.

N6723K
was destroyed after impacting trees following a takeoff run at Western
Airpark (92W) near Yelm, Washington. The left seat pilot-rated
passenger received serious injuries, while the right seat airline
transport pilot sustained fatal injuries. The accident is under
investigation by NTSB.

Departed
Santa Rosa, California, for Lake Berryessa when aircraft lost engine
power and made a forced landing in a vineyard, Santa Rosa at time
22:10. The damage to the the Bee is reported to be
substantial.

During
landing on lake, R/H wing float hit debris. R/H wing sank into
water. Pilot added throttle to lift wing out of water - but
failed. The aircraft flipped and capsized. All 3 aboard
escaped without injuries.

Collided with a tree shortly after takeoff from Harvey
Field (S43) Snohomish, Washington. The airline transport pilot, the sole
occupant of the airplane, was seriously injured. The airplane sustained
substantial damage to both wings and the aft fuselage.

A pilot rated witness stated that he observed the airplane takeoff from
runway 15. Shortly after takeoff the airplane collided with a tree and
descended into the ground. The airplane came to rest in a creek about
3,000 feet beyond the departure end of the runway.

The
pilot of the amphibious airplane departed his home airport and
flew to a lake to visit a friend who lived on the shore of the lake.
According to the pilot’s friend, the pilot normally approached the
lake from the north, made a left 180-degree turn, and then landed to
the north. On the day of the accident, however, the wind was calm, and
instead of landing to the north, the pilot flew over his friend's
house from the west, about 400 feet above ground level, made a left
180-degree turn, and began a descent toward the surface of the lake.
During the descent, the airplane contacted a set of electrical
transmission lines. During the impact, the airplane's forward motion
almost completely stopped, it rolled to the right until it was
inverted, then fell to the surface of the lake and sank.

Substantially
damaged during a forced landing after takeoff from Winter Haven's
Gilbert Airport (GIF), Winter Haven, Florida. The commercial pilot was
fatally injured and the private pilot incurred serious injuries.
Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was
filed for the local personal flight. The airplane was operated under
the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.

According to the commercial pilot, who was also the pilot flying the
airplane, the takeoff was normal until about 300 feet above ground
level, when the non-flying private pilot stated she smelled fuel. The
engine lost power shortly thereafter and the airplane began to
descend. The airplane hit some trees and the engine regained power,
but the airplane then impacted terrain and came to rest.

Examination of the wreckage by a Federal Aviation Administration
inspector revealed that the airplane came to rest between a garage and
fence. The right elevator was embedded into the roof of the garage.
The right wing was bent back behind the fuselage and sliced by the
propeller blades of the rear mounted engine. The fuselage was resting
on the right side with the left wing pointing skyward. The left wing
exhibited impact damage on the leading edge.
[NTSB Identification: ERA16LA266]